The Complication Watch: Build The Ultimate Watch Collection

Rumors of the wristwatch’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Sure, a watch is an anachronism in this age of ubiquitous cell phones and computers that display the time. Yet the centuries-old art of horology continues to capture the imagination, fascination and, yes, the money of men around the world.

If you set out to build a collection of wristwatches, there are several types that should be included — the dress watch, the chronograph, the dive watch, the complication watch, the vintage watch, and the modern haute horology watch. This series will cover each of these genres in detail and offer up our picks for the ultimate example of each. We don’t expect everyone to agree with us, so feel free to tell us your choices. Just don’t expect us to agree with you.

Have you ever taken the back off of a mechanical watch and wondered how it works? All those delicate springs, tiny screws, jewels, and gears — they look “complicated.” Even the simplest watches, the ones that merely tell the time, are typically made up of over 200 pieces. Even a cheap old Timex that keeps terrible time is a miracle of micro-engineering, using the energy of an unwinding spring to drive the seconds, minute and hour hands around the dial day after day, while surviving varying temperatures, moisture, knocks, and other forms of abuse.

The ultimate complication

Now consider the reference 5074 from Patek Philippe. This watch contains 467 parts and will do everything from show you the phases of the moon to audibly chime the time should you wish it to. Do you need a watch to do all of this? Of course not. Do you need a complication watch in your watch collection? Absolutely, and the Patek Philippe 5074 is our choice as the ultimate example.

A complication watch is all about bragging rights — yours and the watch company that made it. It is the piece de resistance of your collection — the one you pull out to show your friends, the one you wind up and stare at from time to time when no one’s watching you. This is the watch that connects you with generations of watch geeks before you, who were captivated by the miracles conceived by creative (and possibly bored) geniuses in remote mountain valleys. Sure, there are watches now that will display your heart rate, the weather forecast, even your location on the planet, but they do it all with the panache of a pocket calculator. Take off the caseback and you don’t exactly marvel at the battery or circuit board soldering. Give us a mechanical minute repeater with perpetual calendar any day.

It’s complicated

Simply put, a complication watch is any watch that does something in addition to telling time. Chronograph? Complication. Power reserve meter? Complication. The reason these functions are considered complications is because the basic drivetrain of any watch is conceived to drive the hands of the watch around at a rate that corresponds to our 60-second minutes and 60-minute hours. To add anything else to this basic formula adds a level of complication, just like when you add a transfer case to a car to make it four-wheel drive... or when you add an engagement ring to your girlfriend’s finger.